Callum nodded to their local sheriff. "Get her out of here. I’ll contact Wolfden once everything is sorted here."
Shana screamed and lunged for him, but the others were too quick. Large hands wrapped around her arms and wrestled her back down to the ground. Silver flashed from the sheriff. He winced at the sting to his hands and snapped the handcuffs quickly around Shana’s wrists. She stilled and glared hatred at everyone around her.
Tommy didn’t wait to see her hauled off. He strode for Faith and tugged her close. Touch. He needed to touch her and reassure them both that they would survive whatever the world flung at them.
Chapter 11
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Tommy asked for the hundredth time that night.
Faith nodded and tugged him up the creaking steps. Most of the town had already arrived and mingled inside. She could hear the Christmas music from the street. "It’s my favorite time of the year."
"I know, and you look sexy as fuck in that dress." He pulled her back and whirled her into his chest. "You nearly died yesterday."
"I’m going to enjoy redecorating once the construction crews are finished repairing the damage," she said, ignoring his point. She’d heard the same sentiments from practically everyone she encountered since being pulled from the fire. She should be happy she still lived. She should take getting back on her feet as slowly as she needed. Don’t worry about anything, just say the word and help would be found.
She was sick of being treated with kid gloves.
Shana was crazy. That was well established. Mug Shot had suffered tons of damages, but that’s why she paid her insurance. She survived and she had a plan to thrive.
All she wanted to do was knock back a few drinks, shake off the last of her worry, and enjoy the rest of the Winter Wonderland Bash. That included finishing the sleigh ride she missed to chase Tommy through the snow, seeing the lights, and witnessing the next gift exchange brawl. There were only two days left before Bearden went into temporary hibernation before a grand New Year’s Eve party.
But the man at her side wanted to take care of her, and part of being a good mate was understanding what her other half needed, too. So they compromised. Sleigh rides and lights for her and a quick escape from the big gatherings for him. He promised to make it worth her while.
Tommy pressed his lips to her shoulder and skimmed quick kisses up her neck. "We make our rounds, say hello to my mother, then leave. Right?"
"And then you strip me out of everything I’m wearing and have your way with me?" She leaned forward and bit his lip, then danced back a couple steps. "Come along, wolf. Mistletoe awaits."
* * *
With the party still in full force and the drinks running more towards booze than eggnog or punch, Tommy pulled Faith out onto the street. His palm was hot on her thigh the entire drive back to his home. Energy rolled off him and his eyes nearly glowed in the moonlight.
It didn’t frighten her one bit. Her wolf was a little wild around the edges, but he pulled her right into the center of his storm. She grazed her hand down his arm and he leaned into the touch. Some of the heaviness in the air faded away when he glanced at her with a lopsided grin.
He bundled her indoors as soon as his truck pulled to a stop. He shut the door with his foot and set her in the middle of his living room.
Snow started to fall again. A quick flick of a switch and the lights on his mantle cast shadows on the floor. Then he was behind her once more. Power made the air thick around her like a blanket.
"I have a present for you." His words whispered in her ear. There was a tug on her zipper and then her dress parted in the back.
"Funny you should say that. I have one for you, too." She was surprised her voice stayed steady.
He brushed her hair from her neck and brushed his lips against her skin. "You’re kidding. The gift exchange?"
She shivered at the touch. Her voice started to quake when he parted the back of her dress and let it fall to her feet. "Oh, absolutely. Your mother is a terror."
"Just wait. She wants us to have dinner with her so she can get to know you."
"She already knows me. We’ve lived in the same town for like, over twenty years."
He reached for her hand and turned her to face him. "There’s a ninety percent chance she’s going to ask you all manner of prying questions like when you want to have your first kid and how much will we let her interfere in our lives in the nine months between now and then."
Faith snorted. "Terror, like I said."
His eyes turned serious. "We don’t need to go if you don’t want. I let her give me her cheek pinch, say her piece, and then do whatever I planned to do in the first place. You’re what matters to me."
"We can always threaten to ban her from the diner and coffee shop if she gets out of hand. Try being a socialite then!" She held up her hand. "Now, what did you get me?"
"Demanding,” he admonished. With a quick movement, he pulled a tiny box from his back pocket and laid it on her hand. “Go on.”
Faith flicked her eyes up and pulled the ribbon. The lid slid off next and inside she found a key.
“I’m in this, sugar. All in.” His fingers hovered over hers before finally connecting with her skin. He didn’t push for more. “The thought of losing you, now that I finally have you, is too much. So here’s a key to my house. When I run, you chase me. When I try to avoid people, you find me. I’m yours.”
"No laughing," she said and stepped out carefully out of the puddle of dress at her feet. She tossed what she hoped was a sexy, confident smile over her shoulder as she went to her purse and pulled a similar box from inside.
Tommy’s lips quirked but he kept his amusement contained. “What did you get me, sugar?”
“The key to my heart,” she grinned. “And maybe my home.”
Tommy kissed her hard. A conversation ender, if there ever was one, and she didn’t care. She needed to feel him more than she needed to keep teasing him.
Faith angled her head and parted her lips. He took the offered access and slipped his tongue inside with a barely suppressed groan. Faith flattened her hands and slid her palms up his arms. Up and up, feeling the strength of him until she reached his shoulders and locked her hands behind his neck.
Tommy picked her up suddenly and carried them through the darkness and into his room. He lowered them to the bed, pressing his weight against her in a quick tease. His cock lined up right where she wanted him and then he was gone.
Tease. Tease! She squirmed to feel him again, but he was remorseless.
With one hand, he reached over his head and peeled his sweater off and tossed it to the floor. Then he was on her again, straddling her hips. She was trapped in his gaze and she loved it.
Loved him.
He leaned down and kissed her again. Faith sighed and sank into the kiss. He was made for kissing.
Tommy trailed biting kisses across her jaw and down her throat. His tongue traced the strap of her bra down to the cups, where he laid soft kisses along the edge. His hands reached under her and he made quick work of the snap in the back. Then that tiny bit of cloth separating them was gone.
A moan left her lips when his mouth circled and finally closed around her nipple. She shoved her hands into his hair and held him to her. Bite, lick, kiss. Her eyes slipped closed and she focused entirely on the sensation of his lips on her skin.
“Like that, sugar?” he teased her softly. He grinned at her wickedly and blew a stream of cold air over her.
She arched her back and licked her lips. Heat unfurled inside her, even as her body tightened against the sudden chill he caused.
“Yes,” she groaned.
Tommy chuckled and continued trailing kisses down her body. She sucked in her stomach when he grazed over her hip, suddenly ticklish. He spread his hand over her and held her in place.
His mouth clamped over her panties and he locked eyes with her. Dark brows arched and his eyes held mischief. "Mine," he growled agains
t her and licked a long line between her thighs. "So sexy how wet you are already. Can taste you already."
Faith exhaled sharply. He didn’t even have her completely naked and she felt ready to explode.
He bit the waist of her panties and slid them downward, still locking her eyes with his. Anticipation hummed through her like an electrical current.
His fingers followed his mouth, shooting heat through her legs. Then he stood, hands going to his waist and he unhooked his belt. His pants dropped to the floor and he palmed his cock while his eyes devoured her.
Faith couldn’t stop staring. So strong. So handsome. Muscles defined the areas of his body with long lines that looked even deeper in the low light.
His arms flexed as he bracketed her legs and sank down. The tease of his mouth became all too real. She rolled her hips at the first flick of his tongue against her. Large hands wrapped around her thighs and held her steady, held her exactly where he wanted her. There was unspoken power in that action. He worked for her pleasure, groaned with the taste of her on his lips, but he decided how she accepted his touch.
Faith threw her head back when he pushed his tongue into her. Her mouth dropped open at the second thrusting lick. She rocked her hips and he set them in the perfect rhythm. Close. So close. He knew how she liked to be touched, read her reactions so carefully.
“Tommy!” She twisted and moaned into her shoulder as her body shattered.
He tucked his fingers under her chin. “Don’t turn away from me. I want to watch your face when you come for me.”
His voice was so deep and so gravelly. Lust filled and all for her. She met his eyes again. Pure gold, and filled with emotion. Maybe more than lust. Maybe he was feeling exactly what she had growing in her heart.
That spark in his eyes only grew as he crawled up her body and pressed his lips to hers.
Tommy slid his hand to the back of her neck and slipped his tongue between her lips. With one roll of his hips, he slid deep into her.
Faith gasped against his lips. He felt so good. She loved how he made her burn up as she stretched around his thickness.
He pulled out and then pushed back in, slowly, deliberately, until she writhed against him with each thrust. He was slowly cherishing her body. Kisses whispered against her lips, her neck, her ear. His teeth met her earlobe.
“Love how you feel, sugar,” he ground between clenched teeth.
Her head swam with the pleasure coursing through her. His control was slipping with each thrust. Tonight, she’d snap it entirely and knit him back together.
Faith wound her arms around him and dragged her nails down his back. Tommy pulled back, eyes flashing. His hands planted hard into the mattress at her head and he slammed into her. Harder. Faster. He inched them up the bed with each powerful slam of his hips.
Tommy growled, “Want to mark you.”
“Yes, yes,” she moaned. Needed his teeth on her skin. Needed to put her fangs in his. Warmth grew in her middle and spread through her limbs. This was real. This was happening.
Her fox had chosen and she wasn’t fighting it.
Tommy rocked into her again and again. He pulled her hard against him and sucked on her neck. Pleasure coiled tightly and sprang and left her clenching tightly around his cock in fast pulses.
Tommy struck in the midst of her pleasure. Pain was a thing of the past and she hardly felt any sting. All she could do was ride the waves of pleasure he created with her.
Tommy released her with a yell. He wrapped his hands in her hair and cradled her against him.
“Faith, sugar, now,” he groaned.
She twitched around his thrusts and focused on his words. Now. Now. He’d marked her. She could mark him, too. Claim him. Mate him.
Faith let her fox slip through just enough to raise her fangs and bit down on his shoulder.
Tommy groaned again and locked his hips against her. He throbbed inside her and warmth filled her.
Minutes passed while they just held each other. Their breath steadied and their hearts slowed. Finally, he slid from her and pulled her close to his chest. One leg draped over hers and he snaked an arm under her head. He had her wrapped firmly against him and there was nowhere else she’d rather be.
"Look at the time,” he murmured against her neck. “Merry Christmas Eve, Faith."
Faith glanced at the clock, then returned to staring out the window at the falling snow. The night had ticked over to a new day. She cuddled closer to her wolf. Warmth filled her chest and her fox yipped happily in her head.
He’d let her in. He’d let her close. The reclusive man had chosen her, the wild wolf under his skin settled because of her, and she had a mate. It was the perfect end to the story they started far too late.
Faith smiled into the darkness and wrapped his arm around her. "Merry Christmas Eve, Tommy."
THE END
* * *
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New Series
Forbidden Mate: Shifters of Bear’s Den Book One
An Alpha Bound by Duty
Bear shifter Callum Strathorn has a job to do. With his father’s health declining, it’s up to Callum to take over as Mayor of Bearden.
When Leah Arden crashes her car near Bearden, Callum leads the first responders. He pulls the lovely woman from the wreckage, but as her wits return, she sees things that humans should never see. Forbidden things, like a mysterious town and a man shifting into a bear.
Callum has no choice. To protect his town and his clan, he keeps Leah captive in Bearden while he figures out damage control. He soon finds himself with a fiery and furious female on his hands. And if things couldn’t get worse, the stubborn and aggravatingly sexy woman smells and tastes just like his fated mate.
A Woman on the Run
Leah Arden lives a life haunted by secrets. She can't stay in one place for long or her past will catch up with her. With nowhere to turn, she doesn’t trust anyone, not until she meets Bearden’s gruff but handsome mayor.
Callum’s slow, sexy smile and quiet strength make her yearn for more. But when he lays down the law and forces her to remain in Bearden, she grows desperate to find a way to escape. Even if that means betraying the one man who makes her want to put down roots.
As Leah’s secrets unravel, the danger grows, looming over her and all of Bearden. Callum's enemies are looking for weakness, and he handed them one on a silver platter. Can the town’s alpha keep his people safe, especially the woman who is fated to be his?
* * *
Step into the world of Shifting Destinies, where the men and women you meet might just be a little more than human. Their towns are protected by magic, and their hearts are open and ready for love. But watch your step - more than darkness lurks in the shadows.
Forbidden Mate is available on Amazon!
Also by Cecilia Lane
Shifting Destinies: Shifters of Bear’s Den
Forbidden Mate
Dangerous Mate
Hunted Mate
Shifting Destinies Standalone Stories
Her Christmas Wolf
Cursed Dragons
Dragon’s Touch
Dragon’s Desire
Dragon’s Demon
Fated Hearts Club
Burning for the Dragon
Bear’s Baby Blues
Howling for a Mate
Fated Hearts Club Books 1-3
Dragonsworn
Smoulder
Singe
Scorch
Dragonsworn Book 1-3
About the Author
Cecilia Lane grew up in a what most call paradise, but she insists is humid hell. She escaped the heat with weekly journeys to the library, where she learned the basics of slaying dragons, magical abilities, and grand adventures.
&nb
sp; When it became apparent she wouldn’t be able to travel the high seas with princes or party with rock star vampires, Cecilia hunkered down to create her own worlds filled with sexy people in complicated situations. She now writes with the support of her own sexy man and many interruptions from her goofy dog.
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